Haruka's Birthday!
by Reusch17
Summary: What do you think it's about? lol! One shot.


**A/N-Well as I said I would, here is a fic for Haruka's Birthday. I hope you all enjoy it and to those of you who offered me kind words after reading my last fic… I thank you all so much, so very much. I really appreciate it!**

**Haruka's Birthday**

Michiru groaned as she turned over in bed. She opened her eyes and saw that the room was still dark… the sun had not yet risen. As her eyes adjusted she could make out what had woken her. The form of her loving was sitting on the edge of the bed seemingly pulling on a pair of socks.

"Ruka…" Michiru mumbled with sleep. "Why are you up so early? It's Saturday…"

"I have to go down to the track to work on my car." Haruka said as she stood from the bed.

"Ruka the car will still be there when there's sunlight, come back to bed." Haruka chuckled.

"I know, but I have a lot of work to do on it. So don't expect me to be home early either. I'll probably also be doing the same thing tomorrow so I won't be around." She said as she moved to the door. "I love you Michi I'll see you later." and with that Haruka closed the door behind her.

"Wait Ruka…Damn… she's doing it again." Michiru mumbled as she lay back on the bed. Slowly she fell back into an uneasy sleep.

A couple hours later the sun poured through the window and over Michiru in an angelic white glow. She winced into the sun, but slowly opened her eyes. She lay there a moment in thought before she pulled herself from her bed and threw a robe on herself. She walked downstairs and found Hotaru already sitting in front of the TV with a bowl of cereal in her lap.

"Good morning princess." Michiru said as she leaned over the back of the couch and placed a kiss on her daughters head.

"Morning mama." Hotaru said without even looking up from the cartoons that had her captive. Michiru chuckled as she walked into the kitchen and found Setsuna reading a novel and drinking a cup of tea at the table.

"Good morning Setsuna."

"Morning Michiru. You're other half still asleep?"

"No actually. She left quite early to go to the track. She said she wouldn't be home early and that she would be doing the same thing tomorrow." Setsuna looked up and frowned at the tone Michiru's voice had taken.

"But tomorrow is…"

"I know." Michiru cut off. "She's doing it again." Michiru sat down at the table and looked at Setsuna who had put her book down. "I honestly don't know what to do."

"I don't know either. She's so damn stubborn… You need to talk to her Michiru. She's not only hurting herself but those around her. You know that Hotaru has been looking forward to helping make her papa a nice supper tomorrow. She'll be crushed if Haruka isn't there."

"I know that. I just don't know how to get her to stop this. She's always hated her birthday and always done her best to avoid it. We've been together for four years now… two of which we've spent with you and Hotaru as a family, but she still hides from this day. I don't know how to help her get over her past if she won't even try." Michiru said as tears slowly formed in he eyes. She brushed them away hastily and looked at Setsuna.

"You'll figure this out Michiru… I know you will. But you'll have to do it fast because tomorrow is the 27th."

"I know… I know."

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"Tenoh? What the hell are you doing here?" Soichiro asked as he walked into the garage. "I didn't think anyone would be here today."(A/N-yep in my head still off season.)

"I felt like working on the car is all." She said as she wiped her hands.

"There's nothing to 'work on' on that car. I have it in perfect condition."

"Well it was pulling a little to the right this morning so right now I'm just adjusting the alignment."

"Wait this morning?" Soichiro glanced at the clock and noticed it read 8:17. "Tenoh… how long have you been here?"

"I guess since about 6..."

"Ok what's wrong?" Soichiro asked as her pulled on Haruka's legs bringing her out from underneath the car.

"Nothings wrong. Geez can't I work on my car without getting bombarded with a million question."

"You could… if it weren't so suspicious."

"What's so suspicious? You're here aren't you?"

"Yes… but I'm the head mechanic and it's my job to make sure that all the team cars are in working order so I'm allowed to show up whenever I please to check on them. You however… only need to show up once a week to take a test run… and you've already done that this week… twice as a matter of fact. Also… 6am on a Saturday? Now if that doesn't scream suspicious I don't know what does. So tell me what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong… I just felt like coming in, God. Just please leave me alone, alright?" Haruka said in a very angry voice as she slid back under the car. Soichiro just sighed as he looked down at her feet. He walked off to his office in the back of the garage and sat down in the chair, a frown placed on his face. He glanced up at the calendar and then it hit him.

"Oh not again Tenoh." He sighed as he sat back in his chair thinking about his star racer. "Every year." He mumbled. He sat for a few more moments in silence before leaning forward and grabbing a little black book that sat on the desk. He flipped through it and found what he was looking for. He picked up the phone and dialed the number and then sat back again, throwing the book onto the desk. The page it sat on showed the name Tenoh/Kaiou residence and then the phone number. He waited a few minutes until a sweet voice answered.

"Moshi moshi."

"Uh, hello Kaiou-san?"

"Hai?"

"It's Soichiro."

"Oh good morning Soichio-san. Is every thing alright?" Soichiro could hear the panic start in her voice.

"Yes everything's fine… well not really, but I assume you can figure out why I'm calling."

"I suppose you've seen Haruka and she was a bit more agitated then usual right?"

"Hai… and I did notice what day tomorrow is. Kaiou-san is she alright?" He could hear her sigh on the other end of the line.

"To be honest Soichiro-san I don't know. But you've known her long enough to realize that every year she does the same thing at her birthday. She tries to avoid it by withdrawing herself from the people who love her." There was a long silence before Soichiro spoke again.

"If you want I can kick her out… force her to go home."

"No… I think that will only serve to make things worse. I'll have to talk to her when she comes home tonight. Thank you though… for your concern. She's really lucky to have a head mechanic like you."

"Well I think she's luckier to have someone like you… I don't think I could deal with her for more then a few hours a day." He heard Michiru let out a small laugh. He smiled a bit at this.

"Hai… she can be a handful sometimes, but I love her. Once again thank you Soichiro-san… for looking out for her. Have a good day."

"You as well Kaiou-san. Bye"

"Bye." Soichiro hung up the phone and sighed as he stood up and left the office. He was just going to have to leave Haruka alone and hope that Michiru would be able to talk some sense into the blonde that night. He sighed as he walked past her and started working on another car.

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Michiru had just hung up the phone when Setsuna walked in with Hotaru in her arms.

"Who was that?"

"It was Soichiro… Haruka's head mechanic."

"Is she alright?"

"Hai, he was just concerned." Michiru gave Setsuna a knowing look, to which Setsuna nodded.

"Alright well this little one wants to go out and find the perfect gift for her papa. Care to join us?" Michiru smiled at Hotaru and nodded.

"Hai, just let me grab my purse." In five minutes they were all in the car on their way to the city.

They arrived thirty minutes later and found one of Tokyo's largest malls. They spent almost the entire day scouring the mall in an attempt to find the prefect gift for Haruka. It seemed like an impossible task. They took a break around one in order to have some lunch, but were soon back on their feet filled with new determination. After a couple more hours Setsuna had given up and bought Haruka a few shirts. Hotaru however was still looking for that perfect gift… just as Michiru was. The problem was that she couldn't think of anything to get the racer. Haruka never asks for anything. Her only answer was "that she had everything she could ever need." Michiru sighed when she heard Hotaru let out a squeal of delight.

"There!" She said as she pointed to a window. Both Setsuna and Michiru looked up and saw in the window of a toy shop a stuffed bear in a red racing suit sitting in a red race car. They both chuckled at the five year old girl. "Can I please get that for Haruka-papa?" She asked giving them both puppy dog eyes. They laughed and then Michiru knelt down to the child.

"Of course you can Hime-Chan… I'm sure your Haruka-papa will love it." So they took the little girl inside and brought the stuffed toy up to the cash. Michiru was about to hand over the money when Hotaru pulled on her skirt. She looked down at the little girl.

"Can I pay mama?" Michiru smiled and handed Hotaru the money and then picked her up so she could reach over the counter. She handed the bills over and the cashier smiled at her and gave her a receipt and the bag. Michiru put Hotaru down and they walked out of the store. Now she was the only one who hadn't found anything. After walking around a little longer Michiru was really getting frustrated. Setsuna saw this and offered to take Hotaru for an ice cream while Michiru continued searching. She eventually stopped in front of a jewelry shop. Normally she wouldn't have even thought of buying jewelry for Haruka, but something in the window caught her eye. She went inside and asked the jeweler to look at the display of necklaces in front. He brought it over to the counter and Michiru picked up a gold chain that had a symbol dangling from the end of it. Michiru stared at it a little longer before she told the man she would take it. After the transaction was complete she left the shop and met up with Setsuna and a very content little Hotaru who was no doubt full of ice cream.

"Did you find something?" Setsuna asked as she eyed the small bag in Michiru's hand.

"Hai I did." She said as she started to head towards the exit.

"Well what is it?"

"You'll see tomorrow." Michiru said with a grin.

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Haruka sat in the bleachers of the track staring at nothing. She had been sitting there ever since Soichiro had left. He had bid her goodnight and she was sure she had heard a soft "Happy Birthday" leave his lips before he closed the door. It had been five hours since that and Haruka was thoroughly frozen now. She looked at her watch and saw that it was already past eleven. She sighed as she stood and stretched her sore body. She wiped her eyes trying to get the remaining tears out of them as she walked towards her car.

When she got home all the lights in the house were out. She entered the front door and was about to go upstairs when a voice startled her.

"Haruka." Haruka turned towards the voice and saw Michiru standing in the living room in her robe and her arms folded across her chest. She looked angry and Haruka was certain she knew where this was heading. She decided it would be prudent to try and avoid this conversation.

"I'm really tired… I'm going to bed." Haruka started up the steps when Michiru spoke again.

"Haruka Tenoh don't you dare take another step." Haruka froze and turned to look at Michiru. "We need to talk so get back down here." For a minute Haruka didn't move and just stood there looking at her agitated girlfriend. She sighed as she stepped back down and walked towards Michiru stopping inches from her.

"What do you want to talk about?" Haruka asked trying to play innocent, but she knew it wouldn't work.

"You know very well what I want to talk to you about." Michiru said as she took Haruka's hand and pulled her towards the couch, sitting her down on it and then sitting next to her, never letting go of her hand. "Why?" She asked looking into Haruka's dark teal eyes. "Why are you still running from this?" Haruka looked down at the carpet unsure of how to respond. "Ruka…" Michiru said in a soft voice as she brought Haruka back to face her. "It's not the same anymore and you know that… you have us with you now. You have Setsuna, Hotaru… You have me. We all love you and it hurts us to see you like this every year." Haruka broke away from Michiru's soft grip and stared at the carpet again. There was a long silence between the two of them until Haruka looked up again. There were tears glistening in her eyes and Michiru quickly reached over to wipe them away. She let her hand linger on Haruka's cheek as she stared into her lover's eyes, saddened by the hurt she saw within them.

"I know… I know its different now." Haruka whispered. "It's just… they left me… they left me on my birthday and it hurt so much Michi." Haruka barely finished her sentence before she broke down crying. Michiru brought Haruka into her arms, hugging her as tightly as she could. She knew what Haruka was talking about.

As a matter of fact she and Setsuna were the only ones that knew this part of Haruka's past. When she was only 6 years old her parents had died in a car crash on her birthday. After that she was sent to foster care until she was old enough to collect her parent's money and move out on her own. All those years her Birthday had been a cruel reminder of her parent's death and of being all alone in the world. Even when she had met Michiru the first year Michiru didn't know when Haruka's birthday was. After being together a year and realizing that she had never celebrated Haruka's Birthday did she ask the blonde when it was. Haruka refused to tell her and she had to find out from public records… which was when she discovered how and when Haruka's parents had died. The next year she had planned a wonderful evening with just her and Haruka, but Haruka never came home. When she finally stumbled in it was 4 in the morning and she was completely drunk. The next year they were living with Hotaru and Setsuna and they had once again planned a nice supper, but Haruka managed to get out of it by saying she had an emergency at the track that needed her attention. Michiru of course didn't believe her, but decided it was best not to stop her. That was when she told Setsuna about Haruka's past. This year however Michiru had had enough. She was determined to help the blonde. It hurt her so much to see her blonde lover like this.

"I know Ruka… I know." Michiru said as she stroked Haruka's back. Michiru pulled back and forced Haruka to look at her. She once again wiped away the tears and looked deep into Haruka's eyes. "I know it hurts, but listen to me when I say that you are not alone anymore. You have all of us and we will never leave you, never." Haruka smiled weakly at her.

"Thank you Michi… I know. I know that you're all here for me, but it's hard to break over fifteen years of habit." Michiru smiled gently at her.

"Well you have to start sometime, so what do you say you start this year? Hotaru is really looking forward to making you supper tomorrow night."

"Really? She's going to cook for me?" Haruka said with a light laugh.

"Well I assume that most of the cooking will be done by Setsuna and me… but she does intend to help… So… will you stick around this year and let us celebrate the day that our wonderful Haruka came to be?" Haruka smiled at Michiru. She couldn't believe how lucky she was that she had a woman as wonderful as Michiru and a family like Hotaru and Setsuna. She really was blessed.

"Hai… I won't run anymore." Immediately Michiru wrapped her arms around Haruka.

"Thank you Ruka… Thank you." Michiru said as she let the tears that she had been holding in fall.

"Hey now don't cry… I think I've done enough of that tonight for the both of us." Haruka teased and Michiru just laughed. She then looked at her watch. It was 12:01.

"It's the 27th… Happy Birthday Ruka." Michiru said as she placed a kiss on Haruka's lips. Haruka smiled into it and when they broke apart she smiled at Michiru.

"Thank you Michi."

"Come on… I have a gift for you." Michiru said taking Haruka's hand and leading her up the stairs to their bedroom.

"Michi you know you didn't have to get me anything…" Haruka trailed off as she was pushed down on the bed. Michiru turned to her bedside table and took a small box from it. She held it out to Haruka who took it in her hands.

"I know I didn't, but I wanted to… Go on open it." Gingerly Haruka un-wrapped the small gift and found a black velvet box inside. She started opening it, "I know that you don't really wear any jewelry, but I saw this and… I don't know why, but I…"

"It's beautiful." Haruka cut her off. She held up the gold chain that had the Kanji symbol for family hanging off of it. Michiru saw the tears escaping Haruka's eyes and she wiped them away, ignoring the ones falling from her own.

"I thought you said no more crying." She laughed.

"I did… I guess neither of us listened." Haruka said as she too wiped away the tears from Michiru's eyes.

"May I?" Michiru asked pointing to the necklace that was still clasped in Haruka's left hand. Haruka nodded and Michiru took the necklace and placed it around her lover's neck. She stepped back to admire it. "It looks wonderful on you." Haruka stood up and wrapped her arms around Michiru.

"Thank you so much Michi… for the gift… for everything. I love you."

"I love you too Ruka."

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The next morning the silence of the household was broken by Hotaru's screaming.

"Happy Birthday Haruka-papa!!!" She yelled as she jumped on top of Haruka's sleeping form.

"Oomph. God Hotaru you're getting too big to do that." Haruka groaned.

"Come on Haruka-papa get up. It's your birthday."

"Doesn't that mean that I get to choose what I want to do… cause I want to sleep in."

"Come on I want to give you your gift." The black haired girl exclaimed as she pulled on Haruka's hand forcing the tall woman out of her bed as she groaned.

"At least let me take a shower and get dressed." Hotaru stopped and turned around looking up at Haruka.

"Alright." And with that the little girl released Haruka's hand and ran down the hallway. Haruka stood there laughing at her daughter. She felt a warm pair of hands wrap around her waist.

"She's a strange girl isn't she?" Haruka chuckled turning around in Michiru's grasp and kissing her.

"Hai… she takes after her papa." Michiru winked.

"Hey! It's my birthday… aren't you suppose to be nice to me?"

"Well follow me to the bathroom and I'll show you how nice I can be." Michiru said as she started walking to the bathroom, swaying her hips seductively. Haruka arched and eyebrow and followed.

An hour later Haruka and Michiru entered the kitchen and found Hotaru and Setsuna sitting at the table.

"Nice of you to join us you two… Hotaru said you were taking a shower… I didn't think it would take that long." Setsuna said as she eyed her friends knowingly. They both blushed and Haruka sat at the kitchen table while Michiru went to prepare breakfast for them.

"Well Michiru wanted to give me a birthday present." Haruka said casually.

"Michiru-mama already gave you her gift? But I wanted to give you my gift first!" Hotaru whined climbing onto Haruka's lap. "What did she give you?" At first Haruka had no idea what to tell the child and her face went pale for a second, while Setsuna tried hard to suppress her giggles. Then Haruka remembered the gift Michiru had given her last night. She reached down the collar of her shirt and pulled out the gold necklace.

"She gave me this Hime-Chan." The child stared at it and so did Setsuna. Hotaru took it and pulled it closer to her bringing Haruka with it.

"What does it mean papa?"

"It means…" Haruka started as she pulled the necklace from Hotaru's grasp allowing herself to breathe easier, "Family. It reminds me that no matter what… I have you, Setsuna and your Michiru-mama with me all the time." Haruka looked up and smiled at Michiru who had just placed breakfast on the table. Michiru smiled back and then leant down to place a kiss on Haruka's lips.

"Can I give Haruka-papa her gift now Michiru-mama?" Hotaru pleaded with wide eyes. Everyone at the table laughed at the adorable child.

"Hai princess, you may." Hotaru jumped off of Haruka's lap and ran into the other room. She returned seconds later with a very lumpy looking gift wrapped in red paper. She jumped back into Haruka's lap and handed her the gift.

"Now what on Earth could this be?" Haruka asked, truly stumped as to the identity of the oddly shaped gift.

"Open it! Open it!" Hotaru cried.

"Ok, ok!" Haruka said as she turned towards the table with Hotaru between her arms. She then started to rip open the gift. Once she was done she couldn't help, but laugh at the toy. It was really cute. "I love it Hime-Chan. Thank you very much." Haruka said as she kissed Hotaru on the head and hugged her tightly.

"Well if everyone else is giving you your gifts I might as well too." Setsuna said as she stood up. She took a neatly wrapped package that had been sitting on the counter and handed it to Haruka. "Now it's not as exciting as everyone else's gifts, but you're impossible to shop for you know." Haruka laughed at her frustration.

"Because you're a real treat to shop for yourself eh Setsuna?" Haruka asked sarcastically as she opened the gift. She pulled out two very nice button up shirts. One dark blue one and a golden yellow one. "They're very nice Setsuna, thank you." Haruka said as she stood, placing Hotaru on the floor, and giving Setsuna a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"You're welcome Haruka."

"Alright now that that's done let's have some breakfast." Michiru said as she joined them at the table.

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The sun had set and they had just finished eating a delicious meal that Setsuna, Michiru and Hotaru had prepared and now the lights had been turned out. Soon Michiru's voice could be heard singing Happy Birthday and both Setsuna and Hotaru joined in. Michiru walked in from the kitchen with the cake, her face glowing in the light from the candles. She placed the cake down in front of Haruka and when they finished singing she told Haruka to make a wish and blow out the candles. She did and they all clapped. Setsuna turned the lights back on and Haruka started cutting the cake.

"What did you wish for Haruka-papa?" Hotaru asked as a piece of cake was set down in front of her.

"Now if I tell you that Hime-Chan it won't come true now will it? Although I think I already have it so it doesn't really matter I guess."

"So what did you wish for then?" the little girl probed.

"I wished for a happy family." She said as she smiled at all of them. "Thank you all for making this the best birthday I've ever had." A chorus of 'you're welcomes' echoed through the dining room and they all enjoyed eating the cake and simply being together.

Later that night when everyone had gone to bed Haruka stood on the balcony of their room looking out over the water. She jumped as she felt arms wrap around her, but relaxed as she heard the soothing voice of Michiru.

"Haruka? Are you ok?"

"Yeah… I'm fine." She said as she turned around leading Michiru back into the warmth of their room. "I was just thinking about what a great day today was." Michiru smiled at her as they lay back in bed.

"So can I count on you not to run away from us anymore?" Michiru asked as she lay her head on Haruka's chest.

"Hai… I don't even know why I was running. Everything I've ever wanted is right here… with my family." She said as she kissed Michiru.

**The End**

**A/N-Come on… make me happy… press that little ol' review button and tell me what you thought of my little birthday fic.**


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